THE technical study to assess Guyana’s suitability for the implementation of the Caribbean Local Economic Development Programmme (CARILED) has commenced.
This was disclosed by Local Government Minister, Ganga Persaud during a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon at the Ministry’s boardroom. The minister stated that Guyana was among seven Caribbean countries chosen for the implementation of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) programmme aimed at bolstering and supporting the entrepreneurial endeavours within local authority areas.
According to him, the final stage of the project implementation saw representatives from CARILED and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) International visiting the chosen countries and introducing the project to various political bodies.
He said FCM International has been chosen by CIDA to serve as the implementation agency tasked with the execution of the project.
Following the visit to the seven countries, the next stage of implementation was the visit to this country by a technical mission.
According to Minister Persaud, the group of personnel from FCM is currently in Guyana, and will, during the course of this week, be hosting consultations in Regions 2, 3, 4 and 6 with the various community groups and stakeholders.
Minister Persaud said that the consultation started yesterday in Region 6, and will be facilitated in Regions 3 and 4 on August 9, and in Region 2 on August 10.
The technical mission will be engaging small businesses, private sector associations, individual entrepreneurs, and local government entities, among others, to share the concepts of the project and to get a sense of the groups’ projects, which can be analysed for potential funding under the CARILED project. (Whitney Persaud)